Runner attachment for track-sulkies.



B. P. GAYFORD. RUNNER ATTACHMENT FOR TRACK SULKIES. APPLICATION FILEDPEB.9,1912.

1,047,745. Patented Dec. 17,1912.

l'nwentor COLUMBIA PLANonRAPl-l cm, WASHINGTON, D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

BENJAMIN r. GAYFORD, or SKOWHEGAN, MAINE.

RUNNER ATTACHMENT FOR TRACK-SULKIES.

set and State of Maine, have invented certainnew and useful Improvementsin Runner Attachments for Track-Sulkies; and I do'hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 'appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in runner attachments for tracksulkies of that type wherein the ordinary track wheels are held tothesulky through the medium of a displaceable bolt spanning the spacehetween theforked wheel carryingmembers.

The main and primary object of the present invention is the pro-visionof a runner attachment of the character described, by which the moderntype of track sulkies may be readily converted from a wheeled vehicleinto a runner supportedvehicle, there by adapting the same forice racingas well as for racing under the ordinary conditions.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a runnerattachment the construction of which is such that therunners arepreserved in parallelism with each other so as to insure proper trackmgof the sulkyandto include with the construction of the attachment simpleandeflicient means for rigidly supporting the same upon the sulky.

While the invention is primarily intended a for use with the light-framesulky of the modern type it is also capable ofuse with other types ofroad sulkies and carts, so that its use is not limited to the moderntrack Q sulkywhich is now commonly used.

I-Iaving these general objects in view the invention conslstssubstantially in the novel construction, comb natlon and arrangement ofparts hereinafterfully described, illus-. trated. in the accompanyingdrawing, and;

pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings: Figure .1 is a side elevation of a track sulky equippedwith a runner attachment embodyingthe present "inve ntions Fig. 2 is' a'detail perspective view 1 of the runner attachment removed from:thesulky. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the sups,

porting plate. Fig. t is a fragmentary end elevation, partially insection, of oneof the Specification of Letters Patent. 6

forked members of the'sulky porting plate 17 is a brace 19, the ends ofsaid clip beingperforated and receiving the Patented. Dec. 17, 1912.

Application filed February 9, 1912. Serial No. 676,683.

with the runner applied thereto. I

Referring in detail to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 10designates the frame of a track sulky. Asjthese modern sulkies arecommonly constructed they include depending forked members llprovidedwith forwardly extending braces 12, the rear ends of the braces beingconnected to the lower ends of the forked members 11, while the forwardends of said braces "are connected to theshafts 13 of the sulky, Theroad wheels are held within the forked members 11 by means of bolts 14;,and it'is the purpose of the presentinvention to utilize these bolts asthe securing means for connecting the runner attachments to the sulkyframe. r

As clearly illustrated in Figs.1 and 2,,the

runner attachment constituting the present 75 invention comprises a shoe1 5, the forward at a pointzsubstan'tially midway its ends, is asubstantially U-shaped standard 16, the

lower end of which is secured as by rivet ingto theshoe 15. j The upperends of the standard 16 being separated, a space is provided thereat andfitting within the upper ends of the standard, 16 is a supporting plate17, the sides of which are provided with upwardly extending parallel.ears 18 which are perforated and designed to receive the bolt 14:- Atthe under side of the supwhich are inclined downwardly to the shoe 15and are preferablyriveted thereto." It will thus beseen that thesupportingplate 17 is sustained bythe middle portion of the brace 19'and lateral movement of said supsides of the vertical standard 16.

ture, an inverted U-shaped strap 20 is ar ranged in the lower end of thestandard 16, the extremities ofsaid strap being also secured to the shoe15 at the front and rear sides of the standard-16. a

Seated uponthe ears 18 is a securing clip 21 of inverted .U-shapegtheextremitiesof bolt 14, and connected to said clip 21 is a brace 22,which extends upwardly within the forwardly extending brace .12 of thesulky 6 frame, the upper end of the brace 22 being 110 porting, plate islikewise prevented'by the runner attachment at the opposite side of thesulky. In doing this, however, the shoe 15 is free to rotate upon thebolt 14: as its axis and thus to rise and fall with the inequalities ofthe road bed but without disturbing the parallel relation previouslyre-' ferred to.

As a further means of guiding the for- Ward end of the shoe 15 a strap2% is employed, said strap being connected to the forward end of theshoe 15 and also to the sulky frame as at 25.

lVhen it is desired to equip a sulky with the herein described runnerattachment the ordinary road wheels are removed by properly displacingthe bolt 14 at each side of the sulky. hen this has been effected thehereindescribed runner is introduced between the lower end of the forkedmembers 11 of the sulky frame, the clip 21 being positioned so that itsperforated portions will register with the perforated ears 18 of thesupporting plate 17. The bolt 14: is now passed through the perforatedears 18, the clip 21 and the forked members 11 of the frame and theupper end of the brace 22 is attached by its clip 23 to thebrace 12 ofsaid frame. The strap 24 when employed is also attached in the manner aspreviously described.

With the parts adjusted as stated it will be seen that the runner isfree to oscillate upon the bolt 14% but by means of the brace 22 it isheld rigid against lateral movement so that both runners are alwayspreserved in proper parallel lines and under these conditions it will beunderstood that the sulky may be used for ice racing without liabilityof derangement of the runners.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

A runner attachment for sulky frames comprising a shoe, a substantiallyU-shaped standard rising therefrom, a supporting plate fitted betweenthe sides of said standard and provided with parallel perforated ears, abrace arranged at the under side of said supporting plate and having itsends connected to said shoe for supporting said plate in relation tosaid shoe, a bolt passing through the sides of the U-shaped standard, aclip 21 connected to said bolt and a second brace 22 connected at itslower extremity to said clip 21 and removably attached to the sulkyframe to furnish additional rigidity to said frame and preserve theparallelism of the runners.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. CAYFORD.

Witnesses:

EDWARD F. DANFORTH, FRED F. LAWRENCE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0.

